Tell us how you develop your sound and style to make it different from other musicians.

So what we produce as a group is what we’re starting to call “pop/rap.” This is a new style of music that has the ability to rap in a technically sound and efficient way but also create lines which syllabically get stuck in your head. On top of that, the pop element allows us to address a wide range of complex melodies, as well as elements of comedy in our music. We’re not the hardest rappity rap/conscious rap group around trying to be thug. We don’t try to do anything but be ourselves and continue to pay attention to making our music fun and consumable for as many people as possible.

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Tell us your opinion on the way new artists are coming up and the frequent release of songs.

Salute to any new artist that’s coming up and making music. There’s room enough for all of us at the top. That’s how we feel. There’s no over saturation in the market so long as you can do your own thing.

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Tell us your experience as a musician.

We’ve been making music collectively for about 11 months, but separately, music has been a massive part of each of our lives. Mike individually has been creating music since the early high school years back in 2009. Sam has worked mostly as a poet and writer since about 2013, but also dabbles in guitar and clarinet in his younger years.
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Tell us your opinion on streaming and digital download of songs.

Love online streaming. Wish we could get paid more for it but hey, that’s life.
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Tell us how you see yourself in the coming time as a musician.

We see a huge wave coming out of the city of Chicago and we want to be a part of this coming tide.
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We really hope to help and collaborate with as many artists as we can so we can foster a sense of community in this city. Beyond that, we’d like to see Trip C (Creative. Culture. Collective.). Media become a major business with real resources to support us and other artists signed to the label.

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Tell us what you think has changed in the music industry.

Accessibility is the biggest thing. Anyone these days can record a song and make it sound halfway decent, which isn’t a bad thing actually in the long run. With so much competition people are forced to grow exponentially and be incredibly consistent in order to be noticed, so we think it forces everyone to be better.
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Tell us your opinion on TV and radio stations playing the same songs from established artists mostly and giving little chances to independent artists.

I mean that really is what it is. DJs are going to play what’s popular and what people like, more than what they feel like the people need. So as a group we try not to get too bogged down in an angry way of thinking about it, so much as try to focus on the things we can control in trying to one day be one of those songs.
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Tell us the challenges you think independent artists are facing and how it can be tackled.

The biggest thing is exposure and marketing. Lots of people make songs, but have no idea about business, or vice versa, and as a result there’s a lot of shady people trying to take advantage of lazy people and lazy people not willing to work hard enough on their own to outgrow the shady people. The music thing is like a plant, it’s not going to be a tree overnight, and it takes more than just planting a seed in the soil to see it grow.
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Tell us your opinion on how corruption is affecting the society and how it can be eradicated.

Tell us what you think about using social media to promote music online.

Never has there been a better time to connect via the internet. Artists are everywhere, and if they think it’s worth it, they’re willing to work. Our advice is always to reach out to as many people online as possible. Worst thing anyone can do is say no.
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Tell us about the beginning of your music career.
We had been collaborating via the internet at our separate colleges for our whole college careers, and finally when we graduated we had the ability to make music in the same room. Since then it’s been an up and down journey of highs and lows, but we do any and everything that we can to make sure it’s all growing appropriately.
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Tell us what still motivates you to go on with your music career.
We aren’t living off of our music yet. Simple as that.
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Elaborate on the story behind the song.
The song is a metaphor for the process. Inspired by cool running and lil pump, it details the up and down ride of the music industry, and compares it to the feelings of a rollercoaster.
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Tell us the process involved in making this song.

So in September we dropped the hard drive that contained this song, and after paying an obscene amount of money to get it back, we made sure to make it as perfect as we could. So the album was kind of birthed from this idea, and we’re really proud of the amount of dedication it took to put out.
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State the official date of release.

Feb 16 2018.

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State your artist’s name and elaborate on it.

OP $av. is a play on savage and the street where we recorded our whole body of work which was Oak Park Avenue.